1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for consumers to refer products to retailers benefiting the manufacturer, the retailer, and the consumer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A problem faced by many medium and small businesses is how to penetrate retail markets with their products. There are many barriers to placing a product onto a retailer's shelf. Retailers often have limited shelf space, and in warehouse type stores such as Costco and Walmart, there are stringent controls and procedures for the manufacturer to meet in order to place the product. This coupled with the standardization of products in the warehouse type stores such as Costco and Walmart, effectively keeps many interesting and deserving products off the market or relegated to niche markets and niche advertising.
Another obstacle for the medium and small businesses is the lack of resources for marketing their products. The internet has helped many to sell their products and provided a much needed outlet for manufacturer's products. When equal access to internet search engine results are provided then it is possible to find a manufacturer's product. However, with the advent of fairly universal search engines such as Google, search engine results or their display order can be sold to the highest bidder, effectively relegating the medium and small businesses to a lower rung on the retail ladder.
To market a product directly to retailers the obstacles are even higher. How to approach retailers and how to present a product to a retailer so that the retailer will carry the product requires that the manufacturer understand the retailers and meet with them to ever accomplish a sale. The manufacturer must comply with all the retailer's procedures, which for a large multi-state or international retailer may be a manual that is two inches thick. This is enough to discourage many entrepreneurs. Another obstacle is that often a manufacturer may have only one or two products to market to a retailer. This puts the small manufacturer at a disadvantage compared to manufacturers with a whole line of products to sell to the retailer. The reason for this is that the effort for both the retailer and the manufacturer is essentially the same whether the retailer is dealing with a small manufacturer with one or two products, or whether the retailer is dealing with a manufacturer with a line of products. When the retailer is dealing with the larger manufacturer, the retailer can audit the processes and quality of the manufacturer, effectively covering the whole product line. The retailer can also perform audits of a smaller manufacturer, but since fewer products are covered, then effective cost of the audit is higher.
It is possible for the manufacturer to market directly to the retailer; however, for the manufacturer to effectively contact thousands of retailers it would not only be expensive it would be very time consuming. Many products have a limited effective retail life, because design and fashion dictates may change rapidly in some fields. This makes it imperative to market the product quickly and effectively while it is “hot”. How to accomplish this without spending vast sums, which may not be recoverable, is a quandary for a small and medium manufacturer. Mailing the retailer product information is one relatively inexpensive method; however, a typical retailer is bombarded with such mailers and they are largely ignored. The manufacturer could send email at a fraction of the cost to the retailer; however, that is almost certain to routed to the “spam” bin.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method for providing manufacturers with cost effective method to penetrate retail markets with their products.